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Between A.D. 250 and A.D. 900, the Mayas built cities in what is now Mexico and Central America.
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Vikings reach North America
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About 90 men-most of them Spaniards-prepared to make the voyage. Christoper Columbus sails on First Voyage.
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Neither Spain nor Portugal had any interest in Cabot's ideas. However, the English were interested nough to finance a voyage of exporation. Cabot left England with one ship, in May 1497.
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John Cabot on his first voyage searching for Northwest Passage.
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Juan Ppnce de Leon sailed north from Puerto Rico to investigate reports of a large islad. Ponce de Leon became the first Spaniard to set foot in what is now the United States.
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Protestant Refornative, led by Martin Luther is launched in Europe.
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Jacques Cartier sails from France to explore the New World.
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Fearing that France might take over the area, Spain built a fort called St. Augustine in northern Florida. It was the first permanent European settlement in what is now the United States.
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First Expendition, led by Sir Walter Raleigh, arrives at Roanoke Island.
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Jamestown Virginia is the first established colony of the 13 colonies.
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Henry Hudson sailed into Cope Cod.
The trrible winter of 1609-1610 is called the "staving time." By the spring of 1610, only 60 colonists were still alive. -
Dutch traders arrived in the Hudson River valley and began a busy trade withe Native Americans.
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The firat native Americansare brought to Virginia in 1619 as part of new trade relationships. They are hired, with rights of contract, for work on large plantations of tobacco, rice, and indigo.
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Earliest Phymouth Colony document is known as the Mayflower Compact.
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The Pilgrims set aside a day to give thanks for their good fortune. Today's Thanksgiving holiday celebrates that occasion.
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John Winthrop assumes leadership of the English settlers in present-day Salem; this makes the beginning of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
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King Charles 1 granted a charter for a new colony to George Calvert, an English Cathilic. Catholic suffered great discrimination in England.
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The first public school in American is established, Boston, Latin School.
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As the need for cheap labor grew, colonies made slavery permanent. Maryland passed a law stating that baptism did not lead to liberty. This meant people could be enslaved for life.
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Colonial population is estimated at 50,400.
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The English Parliament passed the first of several Navigation Acts to support mercantilism.
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English seize New Amsterdam(city and colony) from the Dutch and rename it New York.
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A major conflict erupted.Opponents of the English were led by <etacom, the chief of the Wampanoag, who also known by his English name, King Philip.
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Declaration of the People of Virginia leads to Bacon's Rebelion.
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King William and Queen Mary signed the English Bill of Rights. A bill of rights is a written list of freedoms that a government promises to protect.
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Locke published Two Trealises on Government. In this inflential work, Locke argued that peope have certain natural rights, this is, rights that belong to every human being from birth.
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Benjamin franklin is born in Boston, Massachusetts.
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The French establishes New Orleans.
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George Washington of Virginia is born.
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Georgia is the last of the thirteen English colonies to be settled. It is established not so much for economic opportunity, but to be a military barrier between Spanish-owned Florida and the Carolinas.
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First Copper Coins of the Colony are minted in Connecticut.
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Britain and the British colonies switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar.
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The French began building forts ti back their claim to the land between Lalke Erie and the Ohio River.
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Britain declared war on France, marking the official beginning of the Seven Year's War between the two countries.
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Britain and France signed the Treaty of PAris. France lost almost all of its North .American possessions
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An even more popular law was the Stamp Act, passed by Parliament in early 1765. The Stamp Act required that all colonists buy special tax stamps for all kinds of products and activities.
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Parliament repealed all the Townshend duties-except the one on tea. That tax was left in force to demonstrate Parliament's right to tax the colonies.
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The British Parliament passed the Tea Act. It was intended to help the British East India Company, one of Britain's most important companies.
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General Thomas Gage sent 700 troops ti seize the arms and capture some important colonial leaders.
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As the crisis with Britain deepened, the Second Continental Congress came together in Philadelphia.
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A 50-page pamphlet titled Common Sense was published in Philadelphia. The pamphlet stimulated broad support for independence.
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Congress approved the Declaration of Independence. Since then, Americans have celebrated July 4th as Independence Day.
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The most famous naval battle took place off the coast of England.
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In the mid-1780, a severe economic depression hit the United States.
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The Americans and French lined up in two facing columns.
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Congress approved the treaty. The war was officially over. It had been almost exactly eight years since the "shot heard round the world" started the fighting at Lexington.
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Delegates narrowly voted to accept Sherman's proposals, chich came to be known as the Great Compromise.
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George Washington traveled from Virginia to the nation's capital, New York City, to begin his term as the first President of the United States.
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By the time the first census was taken in 1790, there were nearly 60,000 free people of African ancestry, compared with more than 757,000 enslaved.
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Three fourths of the states had ratified 10 amendments.
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Adams sent a new three-person mission to France. Because the names of the French agents were kept secret, they were called X, Y, and Z. The incident bacame known as the XYZ Affair.
